1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disk drive apparatus for recording and reproducing desired information on and from, for example, a floppy disk.
2. Description of Related Art
FIGS. 10 and 11 show one example of a conventional disk drive apparatus. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of the conventional disk drive apparatus in which no disk cartridge is mounted. FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main portion of the disk drive apparatus.
In FIGS. 10 and 11, a first carriage 113 having a first head 111 for pinching and moving on a magnetic disk D stored in a disk cartridge C, and for carrying out recording and reproducing magnetically, carries a second carriage 114 having a second head 112. The second carriage 114 and second head 112 are pressed in the direction of arrow S in FIG. 11 by a pressing means, such as spring 114a.
A lifting part 114b which protrudes from the second carriage 114 is engaged with a supporting part 151d of a holder 151 and is supported by the holder 151. The holder 151 is provided with a shutter lever 157 which is freely pivotal about point P. Holder 151 is also provided with a trigger 154, and is structured so that it can move while it is receiving the disk cartridge C.
To move the cartridge C to a position for recording/reproducing, the cartridge C is inserted into holder 151 in the direction of arrow r in FIG. 11. A shutter C1 of cartridge C (shown in FIG. 9) is opened by the shutter lever 157 which rotates when one end of the cartridge C abuts it. In particular, a shutter pin 157a engages a side C1a of shutter C1, and moves shutter C1 in the direction of arrow d as cartridge C is inserted so as to open shutter C1. When the end of the cartridge abuts on the trigger 154, holder 151 moves, by the action of the trigger mechanism, to mount the cartridge C in the predetermined recording/reproducing position. At this time, the first head 111 and the second head 112 pinch the magnetic disk D to perform recording and reproducing.
However, when the whole body of the conventional disk drive apparatus as described above is dropped in the direction of the arrow s in FIG. 11 or the second carriage 114 is struck or pressed in the direction of the arrow T as shown in FIG. 12B, the second carriage 114 inclines largely in the direction of the arrow u as shown in FIG. 12B from the normal state shown in FIG. 12A. The arm 151d of the holder 151 can also deflect a great deal and in some cases, the first head 111 and the second head 112 contact each other, thereby damaging the heads. Moreover, there is a possibility of an excessive strain being applied to the lifting part 114b, thereby breaking it.
These problems are further aggravated because computers are more and more being down-sized, thinned and lightened in weight in the field of small portable computers. Since portable computers, from their nature and purpose, are carried to various places, they have a higher chance of receiving shocks due to being dropped, for example. Some measures against such shock have been taken for the computers, and the same requirement is true of disk drive apparatus.
Especially in the thin type of disk drive apparatus, the first head 111 and the second head 112 are apt to be contacted with each other because the gap between the heads is reduced, thereby bringing about damage to the heads, which are critical to the drive apparatus.
Furthermore, there is a limit to rigidly securing the holder 151 for storing the disk cartridge C, and it is not easy to control its deflection and the like when it receives shocks. It has thus become an important issue to improve the shock resistance of the unit.